Resistance unit



May 5,1936. J, J, MUCHER 2,039,974

RESISTANCE UNIT Filed April 17, 1955 z INVENTOR otontod RElKSTANfiCE WTllohn J. Mueller, Eroolrlyn, N. ll. Application it, rose, Serial No.races a ((Cl. coren.

This invention relates to resistance units, and has for an object toprovide an improved construction wherein the parts are so iormed andarranged that the breakable parts are so held. as to prevent anyaccidental loose connections, the invention being an improvement over mycopending application serial No. 7139,316 filed August 10, 1934;.

.iinother object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionwherein a continuous resistance element or a plurality of abuttingresistance elements may be presented and formed of wire or othermaterial with terminals taken therefrom at spaced points, the structurebeing such that the terminals are permanently connected with the:cslstance element.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an improvedconstruction of resistance element wherein two or more elements may hearranged abutting relation and terminals used at the ends of thecombined structure and also to span the aloutting ends in such a manneras to looth electrically and mecl'ianically connect said ahutting ends.

in the accompanying drawingl igiue l. a top plan view of a resistanceunit disclosing an einloodinient oi the invention;

2 is a longitudinal vertical sectionfl view through Fig. 1 approximatelyon the line 2--2;

3 is a transverse sectional view through approximately an the line 3-3;

i is an inverted perspective view of the shown in 1 before the sideshave heen collapsed;

5 a hlanlr showing the A "otecting insula tic illustrated Fig. 2;

g. 6 a top planview of a resistance ole-=- illello disclosing anembodiment of invention with the terminals arranged to fit into thehlanir shorm in 5 and then he assembled into the cashig shown in Fig. 4

I. 7 is per eeth/"e view of one of the ter ii is a view similar to 6 butshowing three independent sections instead of two.

Referrin .to the accompanying drawing by numerals, i indicates a casingwhich is torn led or position will be as shown in Fig. 2. The blank i7is adapted to beplaced in the casing when the casing is arranged asshown in Fig. i so that the aperture i l will be opposite the centralaperture in the casing and the respective apertures 9 and it will beopposite the end apertures so that after the insulating blani: i hasbeen placed in the casing i, a resistance unit M, as

shown in Fig. 6, may be placed in position with '--'the terminalextensions it, it and i l extending through the apertures in the lolanlrl and also the apertures in the casing i so that the parts will appearas shown in Fig. l. The sides 3 and i are then bent over and presseddown tightly to pinch the various parts whereby all the parts u are heldsubstantially against movement and also all the parts of the resistancememioenas shown in Fig. 6, are protected against breakage or injury. Theparts just described, except the resistance element and terminal shownin 6, are dis-' closed and claimed'in the ahove-=noentioned co-= pendingapplication, and, therefore, iorrn no part or the present inventionexcept in combination.

The structure shown in 6 to it, inclusive, is new over the copendingapplication above rnen= tioned in that the various ternunal 112 to (1G,

, inclusive, merge into has'es i5, i6 and ill,

these bases each have turned over ends it and i as shown in Fig. 7. Theends til and i9 clinched in place so as to pinch the wire or other formof resistance used. in addition it will he noted from d, that theresistance section 2c is independent of the resistance section 28, Theseelements while independent in construction. ahut. its shown, theelements are made of wire but they could he made of other withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. In elements of this kind itis quite often desirahle that one section shall Toe-oi "high resistancethe other of acoinparativelr' low resistance and, consequently, they arewound with wire having different resistances. As illustrated particuar=- ly in 6, the'section 20 has a very high ance, as, for instance,500d chins, while the resistance of section 2d may he to ohms or ilililohms, or some other number of chaos. llt w ll he evident that therespective sections could pre= sent the some resistance, thoughordinarily this would not he the case. lliihere the sections pr sent thesome resistance and are of the same length one continuous winding oiwire is prei= erahle even though an intermediate terminal is used, hutin most instances the diilerent sections have widely differentresistances and wattage dis eipction and when originally till wound atdifferent times. The arrangement of the terminals presents comparativelywide bases so as to have good contact with the wire or other winding andin case oi. an intermediate terminal base l8 there is an electricalconnection between the two resistance sections and also a mechanicalconnection.

During the expansion and contraction of the entire unit, as shown inFig. 2, there will never be any loose motion or loose connection betweenthe base l6 and the wires with which it is in engagement by reason oi!the fact that the base is firmly clinched in place and presents a verystrong mechanical connection as well as elec-- trical connection.

Under some circumstances it is desired to make more than just twosections as shown in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 8 this is illustrated by presenting three sections, though agreater number might be used without departing from the spirit of theinvention. In the showing of Fig. 8, the intermediate terminals 22 and23 are formed as shown in Fig. 7, and being firmly clinched in placepresent good mechanical and electrical connections for the varioussections 24, 25 and 26. When using the structure shown in Fig. 6 withfour terminals the casing I must be formed accordingly and also theinsulation 1. When the structure shown in Fig. 6 is used the resistanceunit may be utilized in three different circuits, while when using thestructure shown in Fig. 8 the same may be in-' serted into six diilerentcircuits and each circuit will have inserted therein a differentresistance.

The resistance unit while being capable of use in many places isparticularly adapted for use in radio apparatus and usually the unitbecomes heated while in use but is cooled when the appara-- tus isturned off. This heating and cooling naturally causes the metal incasing i to expand and contract and also causes a certain action on theinsulation 1. Where the various terminals 7 are merely pressed againstthe insulating element,

there will be a certain varying small amount of movement or shifting ofthese terminals as the device expands and contracts, and this produces avery small amount oi. loose connection which results in noises and otherobjections as ifar as radio apparatus is concerned. By providing theclinched ends l8 and H! as shown in Figp'l, all loose connections orall'looseness caused in the dcvice by expansion and contraction iseliminated. The expansion and contraction of the casing or any of theother parts will not in any way loosen or affect the electricalconnection caused by the pinching action oi! the bases oi! therespective ter minals so that regardless oi the heating and cooling ofthe device there will always be a good also trical connection at everyterminal and this condition will remain as long as the unit is usable.In eflect the clamping or clinching of the bases of the terminals causesthe same to be permanently connected with the resistance unit, and ineffect substantially integral with the wires thereof so that a looseconnection cannot take place at any time during the use of the, device.

In the particular resistance illustrated in the drawing there isprovided a base of insulating material and on this a resistance wire iswound. In the manufacture of this resistance element it is usually madein some considerable length and then out off to the desired length whencompleting a finished product as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

I claim:

1. In a resistance unit of the character de scribed, a plurality ofresistance elements ar-- ranged in a group end to end, each elementhaving a base and a winding of resistance wire errtending fromsubstantially one end to the other said resistance elements abutting inactual align ment, a terminal positioned at the respective ends of saidgroup of resistance elements, and an inter mediate terminal positionedto straddle the abut ting ends of the respective elements, each of saidintermediate terminals having a base partly errcircling and gripping therespective ends of two elements acting to mechanically and electricallyconnect said elements.

2. A resistance unit including a resistance element made up of aplurality of sections, said sec tions abutting, a terminal arranged ateach end of said element, and an intermediate terminal arranged tostraddle the abutting ends oi each of each two sections, saidintermediate terminals having a base overlapping the respective ends oi!two adjacent sections formed with clinching members for clinching thebase oi. said two ad jacent sections to permanently provide a mechemical and electrical connection for said ticns.

3. A resistance unit including a resistance cle ment formed of aplurality oi. sections, said sections abutting, each of said sectionshaving an insulating base and a winding oi resistance wire extendingfrom one end to the other, terminal arranged at each end of saidresistance element and at all said abutting ends, the terminals oi theabutting ends having bases clinched around the sides and under surfacesof the respective abutting sections to electrically and mechanica lyconnect said sections together, said clinched te1--- minals pinching thewires at the respective ends or said sections.

JOHN J. MUUHER.

